Method of making connector socket



Jan. 18, 1966 R. BONHOMME METHOD OF MAKING CONNECTOR SOCKET 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Feb. 24, 1959 W ENVEETOR. BY M} Jan. 18, 1966 F. R. BONHOMME METHOD OF MAKING CONNECTOR SOCKET 2 Sheets-Sheet Original Filed Feb. 24, 1959 II/Illl III 2 :EVENTOR. BY 6 PM,

United States Patent Ofifice 3,229,355 Patented Jan. 18, 1966 3,229,356 METHOD OF MAKING CONNECTOR SOCKET Francois Robert Bonhornme, Courbevoie, France, assignor to Curtiss-Wright Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Original application Feb. 24, 1959, Ser. No. 795,031. Divided and this application Dec. 11, 1961, Ser. No. 158,371

4 Claims. (Cl. 29155.55)

This application is a division of my application, Serial No. 795,031, filed February 24, 1959 for Electrical Connector Socket, now abandoned, of which a continuation application, Serial No. 162,315, filed December 21, 1961 issued as Patent No. 3,107,966 on October 22, 1963.

The present invention relates to sockets for use in cooperation with plug-in members, and specifically to sockets of the type having a multiplicity of contact wires arranged in the form of hyperboloid to engage tightly and resiliently said plug-in member when said member is im serted into said socket, so a to ensure a good electrical or thermal contact between said socket and said plug-in member.

The object of my invention is to provide an improved method of making a socket of this type in which the contact wires are easily fixed in proper position and are stretched to assume the form of a hyperboloid socket in a simple final assembly operation. In accordance with the invention, a plurality of conductor wires are assembled with respect to a cylinder so as to be located in spaced relation to each other. The wires extend along (in general sense) the cylinders longitudinal axis in spaced radial relation thereto along straight lines which are generatn'ces of the same family of a hyperboloid of revolution about the longitudinal axi of the cylinder. The opposite ends of each wire are placed so that they may engage the respective ends of the cylinder along the exterior side thereof, and a retaining ring is forced over each end of the cylinder so as to wedge the respective wire ends into good contacting relation with the cylinder and to tension the wire, whereby the tensioned wires together assume the form of a hyperboloid socket.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings given merely by way of example and in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatical view illustrating the geometrical concept on which the socket construction is based.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show, respectively in the perspective view, partly in section, and in end view, an electric socket made according to the above concept.

FIG. 4, which shows on a larger scale a portion of FIG. 3, illustrates the deformation of a contact wire under the effect of plug-in members of different diameters.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show two successive steps in a method of manufacture of the socket of FIGS. 2 and 3 in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 7 illustrates the manufacture of a supporting member for use in the method illustrated by FIGS. 5 and 6.

FIG. 8 shows the method of manufacture of a socket according to a modification.

FIG. 9 shows, in axial section, a thermal contact socket made according to my invention.

The socket as diagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 1 includes a multiplicity of contact wires each of which is stretched between two points 1 and 2 located respectively on two circles C and C The centers of these circles are 0 and 0 respectively and their radii are R, and R respectively. Centers 0 and 0 are located on an axis XY at right angles to the parallel planes of circles C and C which planes are at a fixed distance d from each other. Circles C and C cannot rotate with respect to each other. The radius of circle C passing through point 2 makes with the projection, on the plane of said circle C of the radius of circle C passing through point 1 a fixed angle A and the straight lines along which the respective wires are located may be obtained from one another by rotation about axis XY.

In other words, the wires extend along generatrices of one of the two families of generatrices of a hyperboloid of revolution about axis XY, passing through said circles VC, and C and having its throat located between the respective planes of said circles.

In FIG. 1, it has been supposed that radius R is greater than radius R but, as a rule, circles C and C have the same radius R (see FIGS. 3 and 4) and their centers are designated by 0.

Of course, whereas on FIG. 1 a single wire has been shown at 3, the structure according to the invention, as illustrated by FIGS. 2, 3 and 9, includes a multiplicity of such wires generating a skew surface forming a throat the radius of which (r on FIGS. 3 and 4) is smaller than radius R.

It will be understood that a socket thus made can accommodate a pin or other plug-in member of any circular cros section of a radius ranging between R and r. On FIG. 4, I have shown the position of a wire 3 respective- --"ly in the state of rest (solid lines) and (in dotted lines) when subjected to the action of plug-in members 4,, 4 the cross sections of which have respectively radii a and b. This figure shows that wire 3 i resiliently expanded between points 1 and 2 and includes two rectilinear portions connected together by a helically curved portion, along which an intimate contact is obtained between wire 3 and the plug-in member.

Thus, the contact wires work in the most favorable manner to ensure a good electrical or thermal contact between the plug-in member and the body of the socket.

The wires 3 may be fixed to points 1 and 2 in any suitable manner, but most advantageously by a tight fit or wedging in accordance with the present invention.

For this purpose, according to the embodiment illustrated by FIGS. 2 and 3, the wires 3 are fixed, at points 1 and 2, by wedging them between a rigid cylindrical sleeve 5 and tight fitting structure ringing the sleeve and wire ends, comprising in the form illustrated two rings 6 and 7 that are driven over both ends of said sleeve. The wires 3 at each end thereof pass from the inner side of the sleeve 5 to lie over the outer surface thereof by bending the opposite ends of the wires as shown at 3 against the edges of and reversely over the exterior surface of said sleeve 5, FIGS. 2 and 3, .to lie along said surface.

In order to position the wires before fixation thereof to sleeve 5, I can provide the edges of said sleeve with notches intended to receive the bent ends 3,, of the wires. However, as illustrated by FIGS. 5 and 6, it is preferable to make use of a cylindrical mandrel-like support 8 the periphery of which is provided with grooves 9, the bottom of each of which guides a wire 3 in the position it must occupy between the points of fixation to sleeve 5.

The grooves 9 may for instance, as shown by FIG. 7, be formed by means of a milling-wheel 10, the plane of rotation of which is oblique with respect to the axis of the cylindrical support member 9 and which is displaced in a rectilinear manner in this plane.

The cylindrical sleeve 5 is slipped over the supporting member 8 in the direction of arrow f of FIG. 5 and the wires 3 are introduced into the grooves 9 and their ends 3,, bent outwardly. Then wire positioning means, here constituting the two rings 6 and 7, are driven over the end portions of the sleeve 5, as shown by arrows f and f so as to stretch the Wires and bend the ends 3, of

the wires in reverse loops respectively over the exterior surface of said sleeve at opposite ends thereof. The supporting member 8 is then withdrawn, so that the stretched wires now form a socket of hyperboloid form. Conveniently, one ringing portion, for instance 7, is provided with a recess 12 in which can be fixed a terminal conductor 13.

The other ring 6 forms an opening for the removal of supporting member 9 and through which a pin 4 or other plug-in member can be introduced for resilient contact against the wires 3. This pin 4 has a recessed end 11 in which can be mounted another counductor 13.

In the alternative method of FIG. 8, the wires 3 are secured at points corresponding to points 1 and 2 of FIG. 1 by wedging them between a cylindrical sleeve 5, and two rings 6,, 7,; however, in this case, the wires 3 pass from the inside of sleeve 5,, to the outside thereof through slots 14 that are formed in the wall of sleeve 5,, said wires extending beyond the ends of the slots and stopping short of the edges of said sleeve.

The slots 14 may be formed by machining in the same manner as in FIG. 7 described above; however, in the case of FIG. 8, the slots must extend through, i.e. open into the inside of sleeve 5 so that the wires 3 can be siretched along straight lines between the ends of said s ots.

In order to make a socket according to the embodiment of FIG. 8, the rings 6 and 7 are first placed on the middle portion of sleeve 5 (as shown in dotted lines); then the wires 3 are engaged in slots 14 and stretched, the ends of said wires extending to the outside of said slots and over the exterior side of the sleeve on the end portions 15 thereof. The rings 6, and 7 are in this instance then driven outwardly away from each other along the sleeve 5 into the final positions shown in solid lines, thus wedging the ends 3,, of the wires between the end portions 15 of sleeve 5 and the corresponding rings 6,, and 7,, so as to place the wires under tension in the form of a hyperboloid socket as in FIGS. 2 and 3.

Of course the contact between the socket and the plug-in member instead of being electrical may be a thermal contact, the socket serving advantageously to evacuate the heat given off by a cylindrical element such as an electronic tube (for instance a thyratron) which constitutes the plug-in member. In this case, the rings mounted on the sleeve of the device may be provided with cooling fins such as 16 (FIG. 9).

In FIG. 9, which corresponds to a construction similar to that of FIGS. 2 and 3, I have indicated the diameters 2R and Zr which constitute the limits that determine the diameter of the electronic tube to be inserted in the socket.

The method of making a socket according to the present invention includes the following advantages:

(1) The socket can be made quickly and at low cost, so that it can more readily be produced in quantity;

(2) The socket can be made uniformly to strict requirements as regards contact engagement pressure, operational life, etc.

In a general manner, while I have, in the above description, disclosed what I deem to be practical and eflicient embodiments of my invention, it should be well understood that I do not wish to be limited thereto as changes may be made in the disclosed method of manufacture without departing from the principle of the present invention as comprehended within the scope of the accompanying claims.

What I claim is:

1. A method of manufacturing an electrical socket intended to co-operate with a plug-in member which comprises forming in a cylindrical sleeve, peripherally spaced, slots such that a straight line passing through the ends of each of said slots extends along a generatrix of a hyperboloid of revolution about the axis of said sleeve terminating in two circles generally defined by the respective ends of said slots, placing at least two rings on said sleeve at the mid-portion thereof, inserting wires in said slots and stretching them between the ends of the slots, extending the ends of the wires to the outside of and beyond the ends of said slots so that they can engage the exterior surface of said sleeve and driving said rings toward the respective ends of said sleeve so as to wedge the wire ends between said sleeve and said rings thereby to hold said wires in tension in the form of a hyperboloid socket.

2. The method of manufacturing an electrical connector socket having an inner contact of generally hyperboloid configuration for receiving in sliding contact relation a plug contact, which comprises placing a plurality of straight conducting wires within a cylindrical sleeve so as to lie along lines respectively forming the generatrices of a hyperboloid of revolution about the axis of said sleeve, placing the ends of each wire at the corresponding end of the sleeve over the outer surface of said sleeve, coincident with stretching of the wires, and sliding close-fitting encircling means over the wire ends for holding them in tension and permanently clamping them at both ends of the socket to said sleeve so that the wires within the sleeve form a resilient socket contact of hyperboloid form.

3. The method of manufacturing an electrical connector socket having an inner contact of generally hyperboloid configuration for receiving in sliding contact relation a plug contact, which comprises placing a plurality of straight conducting wires within a cylindrical sleeve so as to lie along lines respectively forming the generatrices of a hyperboloid of revolution about the axis of said sleeve, the wires being longer than said sleeve so that the ends of each wire extend a short distance beyond the respective ends of the sleeve, bending said wire ends around the corresponding ends of the sleeve to extend radially outward coincident with stretching said wires along said lines respectively, and further bending the radially extending wire ends in loop direction back over and upon the exterior surface of said sleeve for holding them stretched and under tension and permanently clamping them to the corresponding sleeve ends by sliding close-fitting encircling means over the wire ends so that the wires within the sleeve form a resilient socket contact of hyperboloid form.

4. The method of manufacturing an electrical connector as specified in claim 3 wherein a pair of encircling means are moved respectively over the sleeve ends along the longitudinal axis of the sleeve and in directions toward the center thereof, for the aforesaid further bending of the wire ends, and force-fitting at least one of said encircling means over the sleeve and onto corresponding wire ends for permanently clamping said wire ends to the sleeve.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 464,548 12/1891 Arnold 200131 2,708,306 5/1955 Lampton 29421 2,900,631 8/1959 Love 339256 XR 3,029,328 4/1962 KOZacka 200131 X WHITMORE A. WILTZ, Primary Examiner.

JOHN F. CAMPBELL, Examiner. 

3. THE METHOD OF MANUFACTURING AN ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR SOCKET HAVING AN INNER CONTACT OF GENERALLY HYPERBOLOID CONFIGURATION FOR RECEIVING IN SLIDING CONTACT RELATION A PLUG CONTACT, WHICH COMPRISES PLACING A PLURALITY OF STRAIGHT CONDUCTING WIRES WITHIN A CYLINDRICAL SLEEVE SO AS TO LIE ALONG LINES RESPECTIVELY FORMING THE GENERATRICES OF A HYPERBOLOID OF REVOLUTION ABOUT THE AXIS OF SAID SLEEVE, THE WIRES BEING LONGER THAN SAID SLEEVE SO THAT THE ENDS OF EACH WIRE EXTEND A SHORT DISTANCE BEYOND THE RESPECTIVE ENDS OF THE SLEEVE, BENDING SAID WIRE ENDS AROUND THE CORRESPONDING ENDS OF THE SLEEVE TO EXTEND RADIALLY OUTWARD COINCIDENT WITH STRETCHING SAID WIRES ALONG SAID LINES RESPECTIVELY, AND FURTHER BENDING THE RADIALLY EXTENDING WIRE ENDS IN LOOP DIRECTION BACK OVER AND UPON THE EXTERIOR SURFACE OF SAID SLEEVE FOR HOLDING THEM STRETCHED AND UNDER TENSION AND PERMANENTLY CLAMPING THEM TO THE CORRESPONDING SLEEVE ENDS BY SLIDING CLOSE-FITTING ENCIRCLING MEANS OVER THE WIRE ENDS SO THAT THE WIRES WITHIN THE SLEEVE FORM A RESILIENT SOCKET CONTACT OF HYPERBOLOID FORM. 